Traditional Shoofly Pie

"It's gooey sweet and unadorned by a top crust. What better invitation to come join the party does a hungry insect need? It should be called "molasses pie," but it's whimsically named shoofly because its "open" structure lures flies that must be shooed away. Shoofly Pie is thought to be a Pennsylvania Dutch creation, and may be a direct descendant of "Centennial Cake" introduced at the first World's Fair -- the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition."

Directions

Place pie crusts in 9 inch pie pans. Chill the crusts approximately 1 hour before use.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, stir together the baking soda and warm water. Mix in the molasses and stir until foamy. Transfer the mixture to the pie crusts.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar and baking soda. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture until very fine crumbs have formed. Sprinkle the crumbs over the molasses mixture in the pie crusts.

Bake in the preheated oven 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking 35 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned and the filling has set.